NRA SHOW 2011

Recently I attended the 92ND Annual National Restaurant Association show at McCormick Place, Chicago. Oh what a fun time it was, sensory overload in the best kind of way! Celebrity chefs cooking up close and personal, chit chatting with the audience while the room filled with the smells of their signature dishes. The day I arrived at the culinary showcase arena, Chef Kevin Sbraga, winner of Top Chef DC Season 7, was demonstrating how he smokes olive oil, a trend that's really taking off, (more about that later) and right after that, Chef Rick Tramonto, a well known Chicago chef and cookbook author, started cooking up some good old fashioned Italian comfort food.

Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuelsson, Wylie Dufrense, Gayle Gand and many others were a part of this years show.
The visuals were a food lovers dream, sort of like Disneyworld for foodies! Walls and walls of the latest gadgets, top quality knives of every kind, beautiful platters and plates in all different colors, shapes and designs.
Food companies from all over represented their very best, I was surprised to see how many Italian products were featured, breads, olives, oils, vinegars, pastas, gelato, coffee, espresso, desserts, cheese everywhere you turned, meats, believe me I could go on and on!
Did I tell you there were samples everywhere! Smiling faces ready to pitch their products, and eager for you to taste. I told you it was fun!
High end pastas in wonderful shapes coming straight from Italy.
Entrepreneurs of all sorts looking for distributors.
Dietz and Watson always had a huge crowd around them as the fumes of their gourmet chicken sausages filled the air!
Innovative technology was the focus on equipment to run any type of restaurant or food service business.
I want one of these on my kitchen counter!

And this pizza oven in my back yard!

Vendor after vendor representing all the top brands in cookware, bakeware and specialty pots and pans. Waffle and crepe makers filling the air with sweet smells! Panini grills, meatball machines, honestly I haven't even scratched the surface!

Are you ready for some dessert now? How about some Chicago based Eli's Cheesecake.

A little chocolate never hurt anyone!

Or maybe you prefer gelato?
I had a great time navigating all the isles and looking at all the beautiful displays of food. Thank goodness I wore comfortable shoes! I came home with lots of goodies too.

I have to give a shout out to two of my favorite products, Flamous Falafel Chips, they come in original and spicy, all I can say is... FIND THEM!

So addictingly good!

My ultimate favorite food product of the show was this smoked olive oil from a company called, The Smoked Olive. A Napa Valley couple created this award winning olive oil using their own innovative process to infuse extra virgin olive oil with wood smoked flavor without exposing it to light or heat. There business has taken off in a direction they never could have imagined, they knew they were on to something good when celebrity chefs starting endorsing them and international companies started calling.
When I tasted the samples, I immediately fell in love with the flavor, it's so unique, imagine using it with scallops or any type of seafood for that matter, it enhances meats and all sorts of veggies, a little pricey but worth every luxurious drop! There are 3 different versions
do check them out when you get a chance.

The NRA show unfortunately is not open to the public.

Pizza on the Grill

Want something fun to cook on your grill this Memorial Day weekend? If you haven't tried grilling pizza yet, forgive me, but what are you waiting for? The texture you get from the dough cooking on the grill is incredible! Light, crispy and crunchy!

Start with good quality dough, either homemade or storebought. Let it come to room temperature before you even attempt to roll it out. I like to cut my dough ball in half, it's much easier to manage on the grill.

Make sure your grill is super clean and all that former BBQ sauce has been burned off and scraped clean. Get the grill nice and hot, coasting on medium high. Your dough is going to cook up so fast, so don't walk away, it can burn!

Fresh, lighter ingredients work best for grilled pizza, have everything ready to go because things go really fast! For this pizza I used veggies that I grilled the day before, eggplant, zucchini, red and yellow peppers with fresh mozzarella for my cheese, all on top of a light tomato sauce base.

In the past I've made many margherita pizza's, you can't go wrong with that, or just melt your favorite cheese on the dough and when its done add some prosciutto and arugula, actually that's one of my absolute favorites!

Think caramelized onions, pancetta with blue cheese, feta or goat, cherry tomatoes tossed with fresh basil and olive oil spread all over creamy bubbly cheese. Another favorite of mine is shrimp with pesto, I could just ramble on and on for an hour about all the good combinations you can make! Chicken is good too, alright, alright I'll stop!

No matter how hard I try my pizza never comes out round, I roll it out round but when I plop it on the grill it morphs into another shape, who cares, it's all about the taste!

And believe me it tastes phenomenal! Pour yourself some wine or grab a beer, ice tea or lemonade and enjoy casual dining at it's finest!

Here's what you do:

Heat your clean grill up to a medium high heat, I like to oil my grill grates a little too.** While the grill is heating up, roll your room temperature dough out and brush the top with olive oil** Place dough, oiled side down on grill, don't move it, it will start to bubble up and cook, use tongs and check the bottom side it should look crispy with nice grill marks, once cooked it will be easy to flip** Pull it off, lower your heat and add all your toppings on the cooked side.** Place pizza back on the grill and when the cheese is all melted and bubbly and the underside is cooked it's done.

Happy Grilling!

My Idea of Fast Food

Whenever I need to make a quick dinner, my go to meal is always something made with pasta. Having my pantry stocked with a variety of pasta shapes, we never ever get bored! There's always fresh vegetables handy here and using just a few other basic Italian staples you can get something fresh, fabulous and fast on the table in less than 30 minutes!

My pasta of choice for this meal was Tripoline which looks like the long curly edges of lasagne. Put a pot of water on for the pasta and while that's heating up, take a saute pan and drizzle the bottom with olive oil then add in 4 or 5 cloves of chopped garlic. When the garlic gets golden brown toss in a pint or more of cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half and seasoned with salt and pepper, cook gently until softened.

Drain the pasta ( I used a 1/2 lb.) and stir it into the skillet. Add a handful of arugula or two, and 1/2 cup of cubed and drained fresh mozzarella, asiago is good too! Toss until the leaves wilt and the cheese melts slightly. Add some reserved pasta water if needed, more olive oil and a generous handful of grated romano or parmesan cheese.

The combination of flavors blend so well together it might not make it to the table!

Just saying!

No doubt you'll have some arugula leftover, don't waste it, toss it into a bowl and make this incredible salad of arugula, shaved fennel, toasted walnuts with a simple dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, all topped off with thin shavings of Grana Padano.

This is so good, I promise you'll want to make it over and over again!

Buon Appetito!

Small Plates, Long Conversations at Quartino, Chicago

May is a great time to visit Chicago
usually the weather is perfect, the flowers are in bloom and spring is in the air!
A wonderful time to go sightseeing or just meet up with friends for lunch.


Last week I had the opportunity to meet a blogger friend of mine from Brooklyn, Pat from the blog, Millie Fiori Favoriti. We've been communicating for years but never actually met in person, of course lunch was on the agenda! My dear friend Mary-Alice and I met up with Pat at her hotel and we began our walk to Quartino for lunch.

Located on the corner of State and Ontario
Quartino is known for their Italian tapas, featuring modest sized plates of handmade pastas, seasonal prepared specialties, house cured salumi, artisinal cheese and an array of Neopolitan pizzas.

From the minute you walk in you're warmly welcomed by the waitstaff.

They also have nice outdoor seating a great place to people watch, but on the day we were there it was close to 90 degrees so we opted for inside air conditioning.

I just love the casual atmosphere there, never did we feel rushed through our lunch, we lingered for a good couple of hours and talked and talked.

It was a pleasure to meet Pat, shes just as genuine in person as she is on her blog!

I have to give a big shout out to our friendly waiter Josh, he was extremely attentive to us
and when he heard I had a food blog he quickly told the manager who came out to meet us.

I've eaten here before with family and we have never been disappointed, the menu is fantastic the drinks divine and the prices are unbelievable!

For Pat's visit we decided to order the Salumeria Tasting where you get to pick and choose from your favorite salumi, cheese, and a few different appetizers. We choose prosciutto, spicy sopressata, asiago and gorgonzola cheese, roasted peppers, marinated artichokes, eggplant caponata and an assortment of olives and bread. The perfect platter to munch on!

Our pizza of choice was Funghi, portobello with fresh tomato.

There's always room for dessert! How about some hot chocolate cake with vanilla gelato?

Our waiter Josh highly recommended we also try the apple fritters with gelato, all were so good!

As a bonus we got to meet the talented chef who oversees the kitchen at Quartino, Executive Chef John Coletta, not only does he have an impresive bio, but he's also a cookbook author.

If you're in Chicago and you're looking for great food, friendly service and a relaxing atmosphere to hang out with good friends consider dining at Quartino!

Chocolate Ricotta Tart

First of all I'd like to wish all the mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day! To celebrate I thought I'd share something sweet with you today. This is a tart made with rich dark chocolate, ricotta, rum, grated orange rind and walnuts, it's absolutely wonderful! Just put on a pot of coffee or your favorite espresso and your all set!

I was fortunate to be the winner of this awesome bar of rich dark Jacques Torres chocolate over by my friend Pat's blog, Mille Fiori Favoriti. Pat has lived in New York City her entire life. If you want to visit NYC I highly recommend you check out her blog, she'll make you want to pack your bags ASAP!

Jacques Torres known as "Mr Chocolate" is ranked as one of the top pastry chefs of the world, so I knew I was in for a real treat! The second I opened up the bar and unraveled the paper the smell was so intoxicating! Oh, and there's a reason why it's called a Big Daddy Bar, this thing was huge!

I saw this poster in a chocolate shop and thought it was very appropriate for this post.

Here's the recipe!

The filling consists of, 4 1/2 oz of semisweet dark chocolate, broken into pieces, 1 cup ricotta cheese, 1/3 cup confectioners sugar, 2 tbsp dark rum, finely grated rind of half an orange, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts.

If you're adventurous you can make your own double pie crust or just buy a good quality one like I did.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water. Mix together the ricotta, confectioners sugar, grated orange rind, rum, vanilla and walnuts, mixing evenly. Roll out dough to fit into a 9" tart pan with removable bottom. Spoon the ricotta mixture evenly into the pastry, it will be thick, don't worry. Roll the remaining dough and cut into strips to form a lattice top. Place on a baking sheet in a preheated 350F oven for 35-40 minutes, until firm and golden.
ENJOY!

Recipe adapted from Frame by Frame Italian